Author, Simon.
Published, February 12, 2009.

Reformation Trust Publishing released What’s So Amazing About the Doctrines of Grace in 2008. Reformation Trust Publishing is the publishing wing of R. C. Sproul’s Ligonier Ministries. Richard Phillips, better known as ‘Rick’, is the senior minister of Second Presbyterian Church in Greenville, South Carolina. He has authored and co-authored a number of titles, this one being the most recent. 

What So Great About the Doctrines of Grace is a concise, accurate and simple survey of the chief doctrines of the Christian reformed tradition. The Doctrines of Grace are otherwise known as the ‘5 points of Calvisnism’. Calvinism has become a dirty word, and has a combatative reputation thanks to some militant hyper-Calvinist types. Essentially, though, it is a doctrinal system which expresses the biblical explanation of the sovereignty of God over all things. The Five Points all have a chapter each in the book, along with a chapter on the Sovereignty of God.  

As already mentioned, a chapter is devoted to each of the points: Total Depravity, Unconditional Election, Limited Atonement, Irresistible Grace, and Perseverance of the Saints. The first chapter is like a summary of the following chapters, which covers the doctrine of the Sovereignty of God. Phillips draws mainly from scripture in making his points and making his explanations. This is a good thing, as the authority of scripture is assumed to be high, but this could be a drawback for non-Christians. Most of the book is devoted to simply explaining the doctrines and explaining why they are considered scriptural. There is, however, some application of the doctrines in the book too. Phillips encourages us to take heed of the truths which are found in the doctrines, as well as the encouragement which can be wrought from understanding them and living in light of them.

The book is quite short (only 107 pages), so is fairly easy to get through, and is not very tiresome. Overall, I would say it is quite accessible. The book is written in easy to comprehend language, and makes for a good starting point for those wanting to understand the Reformed tradition and its doctrine. The cases made for each doctrine are biblically backed and reasonable. Phillips, though, spends too long on the back foot. He knows he has territory to defend, and makes it clear that he is. For example, he openly admits that ‘Limited Atonement’ is the black sheep of the doctrinal family. This is, in my opinion, a mistake. It makes his writing a bit weaker and less convincing. The chapter on Limited Atonement is actually fairly weak, overall, which is a shame. The rest of the chapters are interesting and challenging.

While I am undecided on my position on Calvinism, or ‘the doctrines of grace’, this book was helpful. It laid out simply and easily the Reformed position, and made clear the biblical basis for such a doctrinal system. I recommend this book to anyone who is slightly interested in doctrine, searching for a deeper understanding of Calvinism, or simply curious about Reformed theology.